The apostasy of Allan Fraser : the ALP and civil liberties in 1955

A landmark event in Australian political, legal and constitutional history, the parliamentary privilege case of 1955, whereby two men, Raymond Fitzpatrick and Frank Browne, were sent to gaol on a vote of the Commonwealth House of Representatives is normally understood to have been driven more by the vindictive machinations of Prime Minister R.G. Menzies than by their 'crime' of contempt of Parliament. This article examines the extent to which Dr Evatt and ALP members were also responsible for the fate of Fitzpatrick and Browne and highlights the principled stand of one ALP parliamentarian, Allan Fraser MHR, in opposing the gaolings and seeking to have a travesty of justice set right.